High-Q amplified resonator

ABSTRACT

Ring resonators and methods of making and using the same are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a ring resonator may include a waveguide comprising a pump bus and a signal bus disposed adjacent a ring guide, the pump bus and signal bus configured to couple electromagnetic signals to and from ring guide, wherein at least a portion of the waveguide comprises erbium-doped silica and a cladding material disposed adjacent the waveguide, wherein the cladding material exhibits an index of refraction that is lower than an index of refraction of the waveguide, wherein the ring resonator exhibits a propagation loss of less than 2 dB/m.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Application No. 62/398,263, “HIGH-Q AMPLIFIED RESONATOR” (filed Sep. 22,2016), the entirety of which application is incorporated herein byreference for any and all purposes.

FIELD

This application is generally related to amplified resonators. Inparticular, the application describes chip-scale, amplified ringresonators.

BACKGROUND

Surveillance and identification of target radio signals in thedynamically changing RF spectral landscape requires variousbroadly-tunable RF filters. In view of potential jamming noises, RFnotch filters with narrow resolution bandwidth and high extinction aredesired to recover the signals of interest with high fidelity.

Photonics-enabled RF filters are promising since provide potentiallywider tunability and re-configurability in comparison to traditionalelectronic filters. Photonics-enabled RF filters also exhibit improvedimmunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) over traditionalelectronic filters. Sustained efforts in the past decades for developingRF photonic filters for military applications have demonstratedsignificant benefits, such as low loss, wideband tunability and immunityto EMI.

However, almost all conventional RF filters employ discrete fiberoptical components resulting in size, weight and power (SWAP)characteristics that are not consistent with operating in constrainedenvironments. More recent efforts in developing chip-scale RF photonicshave produced devices with much smaller sizes than their fibercounterparts but at the cost of lower performance. For example,chip-scale optical ring resonator filters have exhibited bandwidths aslow as about 200 MHz. While this may be sufficient for channelizerapplications, it is undesirable for a notch filter.

Achieving large extinction in addition to high Q in a ring resonatorposes additional challenges. High extinction using ring resonators canbe achieved by accomplishing critical coupling, where the energydissipation in the ring is equal to the net coupling losses. Powercoupling ratios are mainly controlled by the gap between the ringwaveguide and the bus waveguides. However, process variation may notallow reproducible fabrication of a target structure. While tunablecoupler structures may assist with reproducible fabrication, itintroduces excess loss limiting a high Q factor.

SUMMARY

The foregoing needs are met, to a great extent, by the applicationincluding active waveguides doped with optical gain elements such aserbium (Er) to achieve a high-Q resonator cavity.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional embodimentsof the invention that will be described below and which will form thesubject matter of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the invention,reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which likeelements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not beconstrued as limiting the invention and intended only to beillustrative.

FIG. 1 illustrates an optically amplified ring resonator according to anaspect of this application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a ring resonator according to an aspect of thisapplication.

FIG. 3 illustrates chip-scale variable delay lines using cascaded ringresonators according to an aspect of this application.

FIG. 4 illustrates a deposition technique according to an aspect of thisapplication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments orembodiments in addition to those described and of being practiced andcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein, as well as the abstract,are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

Reference in this application to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “oneor more embodiments,” or the like means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrases “an embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutuallyexclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are describedwhich may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by the other.Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirementsfor some embodiments but not by other embodiments.

According to an aspect of the application, a chip-scale radio-frequency(RF) photonic filter is described. The filter has a tuning range ofabout 10 GHz and 3-dB bandwidth of less than 2 MHz. As a result,filter's ability to receive and process ultra-wideband RF signals issignificantly improved.

In an embodiment, to achieve such narrow bandwidths with chip-scale ringresonators, the application employs an active waveguides doped withoptical gain elements, such as for example, erbium (Er). The opticalgain available from the Er-doped waveguides compensates for thepropagation loss and the excess coupler loss to achieve a high Qresonator cavity. In another embodiment, the gain of the activewaveguide can be tuned by adjusting the power of the pump laser. Thiscan achieve critical coupling by increasing the gain (i.e., decreasingthe loss) of the ring resonator. The ring resonator may be slightlyunder-coupled without the gain, which can be expressed as in thestructure shown in FIG. 2:K ₁ <α+K ₂,

-   -   where K_(i)(i=1,2) is the power coupling coefficient and α is        the propagation loss round trip in the ring. Reduction of a with        the help of optical gain can equalize the above equation,        achieving the critical coupling. A benefit of these tuning        techniques is obviating the excess loss of the tunable coupler.

FIG. 1 illustrates and exemplary ring resonator 100 according to aspectsof the present disclosure. As shown, the ring resonator 100 may includean erbium (Er) doped silica waveguide 102 having background loss <2dB/m, which translates to achievable Q of ˜6×10⁶. Further improvementtoward an order of magnitude of Q˜10⁸ may be achieved by utilizingoptical gain from optically-pumped Er ions to reduce the waveguide lossto <0.02 dB/m. In particular, the waveguide 102 may include a signal bus104 and a pump bus 106 disposed adjacent a ring 108 and configured tocouple signals therebetween. One or more of the ring 108 and the buses104, 106 may be formed from Er-doped silica. Various coupling geometriesbetween the ring 108 and the buses 104, 106 may be used, as described infurther detail below. One or more of the ring 108 and the buses 104, 106may be disposed on an un-doped layer 110, which may be formed frompassive glass such as thermal silica grown on a silicon layer 112. Acladding layer 114 may be disposed on one or more of the ring 108 andbuses 104, 106 opposite the un-doped layer 110. The cladding layer 114may be formed from a material having lower index of refraction relativeto the waveguide 102. The cladding layer 114 may be formed from the samematerial as the un-doped layer 110. A resistive metallic film 116 may bedisposed on the cladding layer 114 and may be configured as athermo-optic phase shifter (e.g., heater) to adjust the refractive indexof the waveguide 102. The thermal film 116 may be formed from metal.Other thermally conductive materials may be used.

In operation, the ring resonator 100 has a free-spectral range (FSR) ofabout 10 GHz. The ring resonator 100 exhibits a Q of at least 10⁸ for afilter resolution narrower than 2 MHz. Although a single ring resonator100 is illustrated, it is understood that the ring resonator 100 may beused for much more complex and capable filters by cascading multiplesuch ring resonator 100 with negligible optical loss, such asillustrated in FIG. 3, for example. As an example, tunable delay linesmay comprise cascaded ring resonators (e.g., ring resonator 100) usingpassive (undoped) glass waveguides having 2% index contrast.

Ring-Resonator RF Photonic Filter Design

Infinite impulse response (IIR) RF photonic filters using ringresonators may have much sharper filter responses than finite impulseresponse (FIR) filters as the number of FIR taps that can be practicallyimplemented is limited by the complexity of the circuit. As shown inTable 1, ring resonator RF filters have been implemented in variousmaterial platforms and measured for a telecom wavelength of 1550 nm.Table 1 lists an integrated photonic RF filter utilizing StimulatedBrillouin Scattering (SBS), which requires high power (>2 W) pump lightto induce Brillouin back scattering. Table 1 shows that the performanceof the integrated-photonic RF filters need to improve to be competitivewith the electronic microwave filters having passband widths greaterthan 10 MHz and less than 50 dB extinction in the case of notchfiltering.

TABLE 1 Extinction Propagation 3 dB (notch Waveguide Loss FSR bandwidthfilter) Silica (2% index 3 dB/m 21.6 GHz 196 MHz N.A. contrast) ringSilicon ring 25 dB/m 43 GHz 625 MHz 33 dB resonator Silicon Nitride 2.9dB/m 9.7 GHz 300 MHz 15 dB ring resonator Chalcogenide 30 dB/m 6 GHz 126MHz 20 dB (SBS) tuning range LGS Goal <0.02 dB/m >10 GHz <2 MHz >30 dB

One challenge in reducing the bandwidth of the ring resonator is tominimize the loss mechanism affecting the quality (Q=ω/Δω) factor of theresonator. The achievable Q factor of a ring resonator scales asQ˜(α(λ_(s))+κ₁(λ_(s))+κ₂(λ_(s)))⁻¹, where α is the optical propagationloss inside the ring and κ₁₍₂₎ is the power coupling ratio between thering and the signal/pump bus of the waveguide all measured at signalwavelength λ_(s). This is shown, for example, in FIG. 2, illustrating awaveguide 202 including a signal bus 204 and a pump bus 206 disposedadjacent a ring 208 and configured to couple signals therebetween. Thewaveguide 202 may be similar to the waveguide 102 and may be configuredin a ring resonator or other components, as described herein. Thepropagation loss of tightly-bendable (˜1 mm) planar-circuit waveguidesis typically greater than 2 dB/m, which may limit the achievableintrinsic Q to about 6×10⁶ and the filter resolution to about 200 MHz.Alternatively, extremely low-loss dilute-mode silicon nitride waveguideshaving a large bend radius (9.65 mm) may only support about 2 GHz FSR,which may be too narrow for ultra-wideband RF reception.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, techniques aredescribed to achieve large extinction and high Q. In particular,low-loss Er-doped silica waveguides (e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS.1-2)) may be configured to exhibit a background loss of less than about2 dB/m. Such as configuration facilitates an achievable Q of about7×10⁵. Additionally or alternatively, a Q of about 10⁸ may be achievedby utilizing the optical gain from optically-pumped Er ions to reducethe waveguide loss to less than about 0.02 dB/m. The target loss of lessthan 0.02 dB/m corresponds to a required unit gain in the waveguide ofless than about 2 dB/m.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may be configured to be slightlymulti-moded to reduce the cavity loss. Such waveguides have widerwaveguide width than required to be strictly single moded. Thus they maysupport one or two higher order modes than the fundamental mode intheory but those higher order modes dissipate owing to the scatteringloss at the waveguide surface in practice, while more spatially confinedfundamental mode does not suffer from the scattering loss. Additionally,or alternatively, the waveguide in the coupler region is designed to bestrictly single moded to avoid exciting higher order spatial modes inthe ring.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may be pumped with “in-band”pumping, instead of 980 nm pumping, for matching the signal and pumpwavelengths. As an example, C-band operation may utilize a 1480 nmdistributed feedback (DFB) pump laser. As another example, L-bandoperation may utilize a 1530 nm DFB pump laser. As such, the in-bandpumping minimizes quantum defect heating and the thermal loading of theresonator (e.g., ring resonator 100 (FIG. 1)).

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may comprise directionalcouplers for coupling the signal and pump into the ring resonator. Inreference to FIG. 2, for example, directional couplers may be configuredto facilitate coupling between the ring 208 and one or more of thebusses 204, 206. Directional couplers may be selected due at least tolow excess loss (<0.2 dB) among 2×2 couplers. In certain embodiments,the power coupling may be configured very small for κ₁(λ_(s)),κ₂(λ_(s)), and κ₁(λ_(p)) to accomplish high Q. The coupling ratiodepends on the target Q and it may be as small as 6×10⁻⁴ to achieveQ˜10⁸. In certain embodiments, the coupling between the ring and thepump bus at the pump wavelength, κ₂(λ_(p)), may be sufficiently high forefficient pump light coupling into the resonator. In one embodiment,concentric-curved directional coupler designs 220 a may be employed.Concentric-curved direction coupler designs may exhibit reduceddependence to wavelength for the signal bus coupler. In anotherembodiment, symmetric or straight couplers 220 b may be used to takeadvantage of its naturally high wavelength sensitivity to achievesubstantially different κ₂(λ_(s)) and κ₂(λ_(p)).

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may be configured to leveragegain tuning of the coupling ratio. For example, the coupler gaps (e.g.,gaps 222 (FIG. 2)) may be configured wider than what would nominallywork for critical coupling for a purely passive ring resonator with thesame waveguide dimensions (i.e., under coupling). As such, criticalcoupling may be achieved by adjusting the net loss of the ring resonatorby pump laser current control.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may be configured to balance Qand extinction. As an example, in the double bus geometry, such asillustrated in FIGS. 1-2, higher extinction may be achieved at theexpense of Q by adjusting the ratio between κ₁(λ_(s)) and κ₂(λ_(s)). Yetanother consideration is filter tuning. As an example, the resonancewavelength of the ring resonator may be tuned using a thermo-optic phaseshifter such as thermal film 116 (FIG. 1). The thermo-optic phaseshifter may be or comprise a thin resistive metal strip deposited on topof the ring. Thermo-optic phase shifters are nearly lossless when themetal layer is sufficiently separated from the waveguide core to avoidany modal overlap with the metal. Also, π phase shift can be achievedwith only ˜100 mW over ˜1 ms time scale.

Methods

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, ring waveguides(e.g., waveguides 102, 202 (FIGS. 1-2)) may be processed according tothe techniques illustrated in FIG. 4. As an initial matter, an Er-doped,multi-element (Ge, Si, P, Al, Er) oxide glass film 402 may be depositedon a base wafer 404, at step 420. The base wafer may comprise a thermaloxide 406 grown on silicon 408. Other materials may be used. TheEr-doped glass film 402 may be deposited in Plasma Enhanced ChemicalVapor Deposition (PECVD) chamber. The waveguide 410 is then defined bycontact lithography and etched to form a silica planar light wavecircuit (PLC), at step 422. Thereafter, a lower index upper claddingglass 412 is deposited using a LPCVD (Low Pressure CVD) process, at step424. Additionally, a heater metal film 414 may be deposited on thecladding glass 412, at step 426.

According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the glasscomposition of at least the Er-doped glass film 402 may be controlledallowing for better control over the Er concentration. For example,higher doping concentration of Er ions is possible with PECVD-grownglasses than in typical Er-doped germano-silicate glasses because theplasma-enhanced non-equilibrium deposition process promotes higher Pconcentration, which enhances Er solubility. Higher erbium concentrationmay allow for efficient amplification in a tight ring. Efficiencysuffers at very high erbium concentration due to pair-induced quenching,where the energy in the Er excited state is dissipated throughnon-radiative channels. The benefit of higher Er concentration must alsobe balanced against phase separation and ion clustering, which leads toincreased optical background loss.

A post-deposition anneal step may also be performed to reduceprecipitates in the film. The precipitates include clusters with high Ercomposition. An optimized silica matrix composition and film annealingcan help create dense films, where the Er ions are thoroughlyincorporated into the matrix.

Glass composition control of at least the Er-doped glass film 402 may beused to adjust the index of the active waveguide 410 such that therefractive index contrast with respect to the surrounding cladding glass412 is larger than 1.5%. The high index contrast allows for tight bendradius (<3 mm), which may be required in order to achieve a freespectral range >10 GHz in the ring resonator. Index control is achievedby adjusting the relative concentration of Al, Ge (promoting higherindex) and P (promoting lower index).

Exemplary results with an Er-doped waveguide amplifier are providedherein. In particular, Er-doped glass films were deposited with Erconcentration as high as about 2 wt %. In one embodiment, a 20 cm(approximate) single mode Er-doped waveguide with 0.8 wt % Erconcentration was developed exhibiting 20 dB gain difference between 980nm pump-on and pump-off states.

Testing

Wafer-level testing was performed using Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM), to validate gaps between the ring resonator and the buswaveguides. SIMS (Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry) was also performed tomeasure dopant concentration and uniformity. Waveguide backgroundpropagation loss was analyzed using standard cut-back methods. The losswas less than 2 dB/m.

Waveguide amplifier testing was performed to evaluate the performance ofthe waveguide amplifier. Specifically, gain and saturated output powervs. pump current was tested.

Ring-resonator characterization was also performed on various designs.Here, the target coupling ratio was derived from the designs to achievethe high Q resonator. The (polarization-dependent) transmissionproperties of the ring resonator were tested using a narrow-linewidth(˜1 kHz) tunable laser.

According to an embodiment, the amplified waveguide technology describedabove may be employed in one or more of the following technologiesincluding FIR filters, IIR filters, and on-chip narrow-linewidth lasers.For FIR filters, generally, the complexity of the tap and delay is oftenlimited by the length of the delay line that can be implemented on chip.In high-index contrast systems, such as Silicon on Insulator (SOI)waveguides, relatively high propagation loss (1-2 dB/cm) is the limitingfactor. In a low-index contrast system, such as 0.6% index contrastglass PLC, bend losses constrain the delay length that can beimplemented on chip. The high index contrast system with on-chip opticalgain offer of this application offers great flexibility in implementingmulti-tap filters with long delays on chip.

For IIR filters or other filters (e.g., Mach-Zehnder interferometer),better filter responses can be achieved by including amplified ringresonators and/or cascading ring resonators. The improved responses mayinclude flat-top passband and sharper skirt.

On-chip narrow-linewidth laser are important for coherent RF photonicfilters. Er-doped waveguides with cascaded ring resonators can be usedto build an on-chip tunable narrow-linewidth laser. When pumped with ana thermal 980-nm pump laser, the narrow-linewidth lasers will have muchless sensitivity to temperature variation than similar structuresfabricated with III-V or III-V on silicon.

More stringent requirements are required for integrated RF photonicdevices in comparison with photonic integrated circuits for digitalcommunication. Namely, RF photonic devices require higher extinction andmodulation linearity. Hybrid integration with amplified waveguides is anattractive platform for high-performance devices requiring targetfunctionalities. These devices may include but are not limited tohigh-extinction modulators, amplifier pump lasers, and high linearitydetectors. Specifically, the devices can be integrated on a single chipwith the amplifier waveguide providing on-chip gain to mitigate thelosses associated with the hybrid integration process. In an embodiment,the high-Q amplified optical resonator may be integrated on chip. Here,the all optical logic subsystem includes a PLC with flip-chip bondedIII-V active devices, indicated by the circles.

While the system and method have been described in terms of what arepresently considered to be specific embodiments, the disclosure need notbe limited to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit andscope of the claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. A ring resonator comprising: a waveguidecomprising a pump bus and a signal bus disposed adjacent a ring guide,the pump bus and signal bus configured to couple electromagnetic signalsto and from ring guide, wherein at least a portion of the waveguidecomprises erbium-doped silica; and a cladding material disposed adjacentthe waveguide, wherein the cladding material exhibits an index ofrefraction that is lower than an index of refraction of the waveguide,wherein the power coupling of κ₁(λ_(s)), κ₂(λ_(s)), and/or κ₁(λ_(p)),κ₂(λ_(p)) are configured such that the ring resonator exhibits a qualityfactor (Q) of greater than 10⁵ for the signal and/or pump, where (λ_(p))is a pump wavelength, (λ_(s)) is a signal wavelength, and (k₁) is acoupling coefficient of one of the signal bus and the pump bus and thering guide, and where (k₂) is a pump coefficient of the other bus andthe ring guide, wherein the ring resonator exhibits a propagation lossof less than 2 dB/m.
 2. The ring resonator of claim 1, wherein the ringresonator exhibits a propagation loss of less than 1 dB/m.
 3. The ringresonator of claim 1, wherein the ring resonator exhibits a propagationloss of less than 0.02 dB/m.
 4. The ring resonator of claim 1, whereinthe ring resonator exhibits a free spectral range (FSR) of greater than10 GHz.
 5. The ring resonator of claim 1, wherein the ring resonatorexhibits an extinction of greater than 30 dB.
 6. The ring resonator ofclaim 1, wherein pump bus and/or the signal bus is directionally coupledwith the ring.
 7. The ring resonator of claim 1, further comprising athermal film disposed adjacent the cladding layer, the thermal filmconfigured to conduct thermal energy to effect a phase shift in thewaveguide.
 8. A method of using a ring resonator, the ring resonatorcomprising a waveguide comprising a pump bus and a signal bus disposedadjacent a ring guide, the pump bus and signal bus configured to coupleelectromagnetic signals to and from ring guide; and a cladding materialdisposed adjacent the waveguide, wherein the cladding material exhibitsan index of refraction that is lower than an index of refraction of thewaveguide, the method comprising: configuring a pump wavelength (λ_(p)),a signal wavelength (λ_(s)), a coupling coefficient (k₁) of the signalbus and the ring and a pump coefficient (k₂) of the pump bus and thering such that the net coupling loss and propagation loss in the ring ofthe signal (λ_(s)) are balanced upon application of pump (λ_(p)),achieving critical coupling as represented by:K ₁=(α−g)+K ₂, where K_(i)(i=1, 2) is the power coupling coefficient, ais the propagation loss round trip in the ring, and g is the opticalgain per round trip provided by the pump.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein at least a portion of the waveguide comprises erbium-dopedsilica.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the ring resonator exhibits aquality factor (Q) of greater than 10⁵.
 11. The method of claim 8,further comprising adjusting a ratio of k₁(λ_(s)) and k₂(λ_(s)) tomodify an extinction of the ring resonator.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the ring resonator exhibits an extinction of greater than 30 dB.13. The method of claim 8, wherein the ring resonator exhibits apropagation loss of less than 2 dB/m.
 14. The method of claim 8, whereinthe ring resonator exhibits a propagation loss of less than 0.02 dB/m.15. The method of claim 8, wherein the ring resonator exhibits a freespectral range (FSR) of greater than 10 GHz.
 16. A method ofmanufacturing a ring resonator, the method comprising: disposing anerbium-doped glass film on a base wafer; forming a waveguide from theerbium-doped glass film using one or more of contact lithography andetching, wherein the waveguide comprises a pump bus and a signal busdisposed adjacent a ring guide, the pump bus and signal bus configuredto couple electromagnetic signals to and from ring guide; disposing acladding layer adjacent the waveguide, wherein the cladding materialexhibits an index of refraction that is lower than an index ofrefraction of the waveguide, wherein the power coupling of κ₁(λ_(s)),κ₂(λ_(s)), and/or κ₁(λ_(p)), κ₂(λ_(p)) are configured such that the ringresonator exhibits a quality factor (Q) of greater than 10⁵ for thesignal and/or pump, where (λ_(p)) is a pump wavelength, (λ_(s)) is asignal wavelength, and (k₁) is a coupling coefficient of one of thesignal bus and the pump bus and the ring guide, and where (k₂) is a pumpcoefficient of the other bus and the ring guide, wherein the ringresonator exhibits a propagation loss of less than 2 dB/m.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the erbium-doped glass film is disposed onthe base wafer using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD).18. The method of claim 16, wherein the cladding layer is disposedadjacent the waveguide using a LPCVD (Low Pressure CVD).
 19. The methodof claim 16, further comprising disposing a thermal film adjacent thecladding layer, wherein the thermal film is configured to conductthermal energy to effect a phase shift in the waveguide.